By Alice Etuka, Abuja
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raided Sahad Stores, H-Medix Pharmacy and Supermarket alongside other places in the nation’s capital over sale of counterfeit products.
The exercise took place on Thursday, April 18, 2024 in Abuja.
During the raid at H-Medix in Wuse 2 and Gwarinpa, 3rd Avenue, as well as Utako market, the agency discovered and seized counterfeit cosmetics, while fake drugs were also confiscated at Utako market.
NAFDAC Head of Investigation and Enforcement/Federal Taskforce, FCT, Mr Embugushiki-Musa Godiya, disclosed that the enforcement team had earlier raided Kugbo market in Nyanya and Mararaba axis in Nasarawa State on Tuesday.
He told newsmen that the team equally raided Wuse Market on Wednesday, where goods worth millions were seized.
Godiya said that the three-day operation was carried out based on intelligent report the agency gathered from well meaning Nigerians.
“We have been able to successfully recover some of the counterfeit products, evacuate them for destruction. Our concern is one of the products, purported to be NIVEA NAFDAC regulated product, but it is not.
“The most shocking to me is that such substandard NIVEA cream and other cosmetics are even more expensive than the ones approved by NAFDAC, this is criminal.
“The market value of what we have seen so far for drug hawking is N5 million, and for the NIVEA products, other cosmetics and other products including Jik bleach, Harpic toilet cleaner and Airwick room freshner, all counterfeit in large quantity, valued at N45 million.
“The total value of all the goods seized during the operation is N50 million”, he said.
The NAFDAC head of operations informed that such counterfeit products could cause rashes, cancer to the body and damage the kidney.
He therefore urged perpetrators of such acts to desist from it, stressing that, “NAFDAC enforcement will make sure it gets to the root of the syndicate that imports these products.”
He said the agency has zero tolerance to compromised standard, adding that
“NAFDAC will arrest whosoever is involved in this crime.”
Consequently, he called on Nigerians to be careful with the kind of products they buy and always watch out for NAFDAC registration number before they buy. He also urged the public to stop partronising drug hawkers for their safety.
